Singapore Festival of the Arts

1984 - 2015

A documentation of my contribution to the Singapore Festival of Arts from the first Festival Fringe,h held in 1984, to the most recent in 2015.

Singapore Festival
​of Arts - Fringe (1984)

Street performances by Talking Eyes

Singapore Festival
​of Arts - Fringe (1986)

Performance with the Manchester Arts and Technology Workshop

Singapore Festival
​of Arts - Opening (1988)

City Celebration
by Marilyn Wood 
Festival opening at Marina Bay

Singapore Festival
​of Arts
​(1996)

My Body, My Choice
by Lim Fei Shien
​(Audiovisual and Performance)

SIFA
​(2015)

​The Incredible Adventures of the Border Crossers
​By Ong Keng Seng
​(Multi-sensory Performance)

Festival Fringe - Singapore Festival of Arts (1984)

In 1984, the producer Jessica Leo, who had recently joined the festival team with the Ministry of Community and Development, was given the opportunity to kick start a modest Fringe Festival. She knew of Talking Eyes work from the parties we were organising in town under the label The Art of Parties. She liked the experimental spirit of what we did and gave us a small budget to produce a street show to be performed in the town centres of Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Queenstown. We scripted a multimedia performance loosely following Singapore’s history narrative and we placed an advertisement in the newspaper calling for people interested to join in this adventure. From teenagers in school uniform, to professionals in business attire, to retired uncles in batik shirt, the resulting cast turned out to be a motley company whose energy and enthusiasm largely compensated for the lack of professional experience of quite a few members.

The performances went on remarkably well. In truth, people were  first attracted by the red, green and blue balloons (the colour of the festival) that were generously given away while we were setting up the set. But intrigued by this unusual and colourful event suddenly showing up in their daily environment, many stayed until the grand finale: the thrilling release of similar balloons flying out of a white pyramid inspired by Moebius’ drawings to the sound of New Age music. The Singapore Festival of Arts had reached the heartlands.  

Festival Collateral (stickers)

Performance documentation 

To view more performances or happenings by 'Talking Eyes', click on the link below.

Festival Fringe (1986)

​Performance with the Manchester Arts and Technology Workshop.
​
(text)

Performance documentation

Singapore Festival of Arts (1988)

The 1988 Festival Fringe was a massive program put in place by Jessica Leo and the culmination of her 6 years contribution to the local art scene. Having worked with her on the previous 2 editions and given some clear indication of my capability at handling large scale programs with the Yin Yang Festival, she trusted me with the role of Technical Director. The Festival Fringe presented an average of 7-12 per day over a period of one month, from the 28th of May to the 26th of June 1988.

The highlight of the Festival Fringe was the Opening Ceremony of the festival that was conceived and choreographed by Marilyn Wood and produced by the Fringe Team. 80,000 people gathered on the spot where Esplanade stands today to welcome the 1988 Singapore Festival of Arts with a multimedia extravaganza that featured the work of many local talents, including an original musical score by Joe Peters and choreography by Bary Cha Cha. The city as a canvas, with over twelve shows a day for a period of one month, and a number of major outdoor productions, including the massive festival opening in Marina Bay, warming up the ground for what was to come in Marina Bay. 

Organiser Nametag

City Celebration
​Festival Opening at Marina Bay

Newspaper Article

​​This event was featured in The Straits Times on May 29, 1988.
(Article) Sunset fiesta draws 80,000 by Jacqueline Wong.

Festival Fringe
Singapore Festival of Arts 1988, The Second Decade
​Programme Booklet

Event documentation

Singapore Arts Festival (1996)

My Body, My Choice by Lim Fei Shien
Audiovisual and Performance
​
(text)

Images of the ​Audiovisual Projection

Backstage images

Singapore International Festival of the Arts (2015)

The Incredible Adventures of the Border Crossers by Ong Keng Sen

​(text)

​Paris
Palais de Tokyo, 26-27 March 2015

Video documentation of performance

Singapore
National Museum of Singapore, 17-19 September 2015

Programme booklet

Video documentation of performance

Reviews

la Croix Magazine, 20 March 2015

Inferno Magazine, 27 March 2015
I AM MA.
As simple as that.
And I work on the space between things.
© 2017